Spring 2015 Course Descriptions for English Composition (ENG

Spring 2015 Course Descriptions for
English Composition (ENG 1000C)
Discover New York (DNY 1000C)
Scientific Inquiry (SCI 1000C)
To the student:
Many of the faculty members who teach English Composition,
Discover New York, and Scientific Inquiry have created a unique
theme for their particular course. Browse through these different
themes to see which specific courses interest you.
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Spring 2015
Course Themes for ENG 1000C: English Composition
Queens Campus
Sophia Bell
Tuesday* 10:40-12:05
Tuesday* 12:15-13:40
Tuesday * 13:50-15:15
10511
11639
10779
*These classes are hybrid; the second day of class is held on-line.
“Language, Race, and Writing”
This course asks students to believe that thinking and writing about language and race help you grow as a
writer. You will write personal narratives, make public arguments, and do a variety of kinds of research, using your
experience to explain and explore what you believe and why. In this course, stories are a form of argument, and
arguments tell stories.
This course takes up thorny questions like: What is “good English”? How do people learn it? What is race?
If it’s a biological fiction, why does it impact our daily lives so much? What are the pressing issues in your own life
that are worth taking a public stand on? How can you take such a stand effectively? Course readings by Amy Tan,
Gloria Anzaldùa, Toni Cade Bambara, Anita Pandey, Stanley Fish, Catherine Porter, Chimamanda Adichie, Beverly
Daniel Tatum, and The California Newsreel Project look at common beliefs about both, and how they impact who
we think we are.
You will respond to each other’s writing, as well as texts and films by writers invested in topics of
language, race, and public issues. This course assumes that when we learn about what we care about – and write
about topics we are interested in – we are better writers and sharper thinkers.
This section of English 1000C will share many assignments with Professor Amanda Moulder’s sections.
Collin Craig
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
9:05-10:30
12:15-1:40
13:50-15:15
10505
10784
14561
“Writing Diversity, Reading Culture”
In President Obama’s second Inaugural speech he states, “We, the people, declare today that the most
evident of truths – that all of us are created equal is the star that guides us still, just as it guided our forebears
through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall…” All three of these historical moments sought to attain greater
legal rights for their participants. Obama’s statement is indicative of the uncompromising element of diversity as
foundational to American values. With an ever -increasing minority population, the re-election of America’s first
Black President, polarizing religion wars, and a more encompassing civil rights agenda that includes women’s and
LGBTQ communities, what might diversity mean for 21st century American culture? What role do we as
individuals and groups play in defining diversity? What is the role of the university in defining our discussions about
diversity? Through critical reading, writing and thinking we will explore these questions in depth while engaging
how diversity shapes our attitudes about racial and ethnic difference, sexuality, politics, popular culture, and higher
education.
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Katelynn DeLuca
Monday/Thursday
Monday/Thursday
10:40-12:05
12:15-13:40
15409
10783
Exploring Our World
This first year writing course aims to explore a variety of ideas and values through various writing and
reading assignments. Throughout the semester, we will take a sociological approach to literature and writing;
gender, class, race and historical and cultural context will be used as springboards for our discussions and writing.
How are these things represented in the world around us? How do these shape our understanding of the world?
How have dominant hierarchies impacted our understanding of the world?
This course is about interrogating the status quo via honest questioning and examination. We will explore
our own assumptions and ideas about the identity constructions listed above and see how they are challenged,
reflected, or complicated by our readings and experiences. This course invites you to ponder your own roles,
identities, and the extent to which you are shaped by your own cultural experiences.
Ashwak Fardoush
Monday/Thursday
Monday-Thursday
15:25-16:50
17:00-18:25
11656
12421
Education, Literacy and Composition
“Never let school interfere with your education.” – Mark Twain
“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and
clamoring to become visible.” –Vladimir Nabokov
How many of you have found yourself tapping your feet, yawning and counting the minutes before you
could escape the death-like grip of a teacher’s monotonous voice? Do you remember the mounting load of reading
and homework that tied you to your desk, but barely remember what you learned as each academic year came to a
close? If you find yourself nodding to these questions, you are not alone! bell hooks, a prominent feminist and
critical race theory scholar, draws attention to the serious crisis in education as she laments, “students often do want
to learn and teachers do not want to teach” (12). In Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom,
hooks confesses her boredom inside the classroom for the most part of her schooling days and expresses a deep
longing for engaged learning experience.
This semester we will focus on the topic of education and pose these questions: What does it mean to be
educated? Why does Mark Twain, for instance, make a distinction between schooling and education? How should
students and educators feel inside the classroom? Is institutionalized learning liberating or disempowering? What are
some non-traditional spaces where learning takes place? How can students, educators and social agents work
together to create an empowering learning experience? Who has the right and privilege to earn an education and
who does not? What happens if the spaces where we learn do not accommodate our identities?
We will probe these questions (and more) through various reading selections and writing assignments. Since
this is a composition class, the emphasis will be placed on the writing process. Students will experiment with
various forms of writing and writing styles to think critically about the suggested topic for this course and express
their thoughts effectively.
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Eric-John Fuhrer
Monday/Thursday
15:25-16:50
12419
The work of the course involves an investigation into various means of composing texts, such as the
relationships between brainstorming, reading, research, revising, and editing. Students will work in a workshop
setting, sharing their writing and responding to the work of their classmates. The course offers students an
introduction to writing studies, an opportunity to experiment with their own developing styles, a chance to explore a
range of compositional and rhetorical strategies, and the opportunity to research ideas and topics of relevance to
their own lives and chosen disciplines. The course seeks to show that writing is a process of thinking and a powerful
medium for the intellectual, social, and professional growth of both students and teachers.
Ikuko Fujiwara
Tuesday/Friday
17:00-18:25
11552
Language and Culture
In this course you will think, read, discuss, and write with cultural contexts in mind. You will explore the
impact of cultures on the way we see ourselves and others. You will also explore different approaches to writing
about culture as you pursue writing as a means of analyzing and critiquing culture, and of engaging with cultural
images, artifacts, spaces, texts, and discourse. Through critically examining, analyzing, articulating, synthesizing,
documenting, sharing perspectives, experiences, and writings, my hope for you is to gain a better understanding of
who you are and where you belong, and to discover new ways of viewing your own lives, and the lives of others.
Since I see myself as a multicultural instructor I see values in listening to different voices, to appreciate
multiple perspectives, and to be sensitive to self in relation to the surrounding world. I also experienced first-hand
how cultural dialogues can generate interesting conversations about ways to appreciate differences and recognize
similarities. This course is therefore designed based on a philosophy that encourages multiple voices and standpoints
by exploring linguistic, rhetorical, cultural, and educational differences and how such layers of backgrounds impact
the way we think, the way we are.
Roseanne Gatto-Dominici
TF
TF
TF
10:40-12:05
13:50-15:15
15:25-16:50
11649
10516
11548
“(re)thinking memoir, (re)imagining the book”
This section of ENG 1000c revolves around a semester-long book project written about what you are
burning to tell the world. Your book will reflect your personal history, and include stories you have grown up with
and stories you wish to pass on. Think of the stories you hope are told years from now. I would also like for you to
think about how these histories have shaped who you are as well as whom you hope to be. In doing this work you
will be drawing on a variety of sources to deepen and contextualize your narrative. You will be asked to move
beyond the surface of your story and think critically about the social implications of writing a text of this nature. The
book you write will not die in this class, or my office, or on your hard drive. At the end of the semester you will
submit a hand-made book and then determine where you will send a copy. Think about whom would best benefit
from reading this book. Where can this book do the most good?
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Stephanie Gray
Tuesday
Thursday
17:00-19:50
17:00-19:50
13864
13865
“Writing the Self Through the City and Place, Keepin’ It Real”
We live in one of the most diverse and remarkable metropolises in the world – yet this large city is
comprised of countless neighborhoods, places, and people – millions of people, including YOU, all with a story (and
maybe a mystery or secret) behind each and every one. In this class you will navigate your own story and sense of
self through reading and writing about our city (and other places) and the many stories behind them, in order to
create your own. We will write several types of pieces where we explore notions of self through place, NYC, and
our own relationships to our city or place. We will write our own narratives, portraits, and analysis of different
places and works we will read – mostly nonfiction, but ending with a special series of fiction short stories based on
the author’s real life.
We will explore all of these different elements of place and the personal for inspiring the writing of our
essays, journals, research piece, and reflection with our end of semester portfolio. With so many interesting aspects
to our class theme, there WILL be something for everyone to pursue – something YOU are interested in and excited
by. While we will be working with this theme and focused assignments, within them you will always be able to
choose YOUR specific topic/subtopic, so make it fun for YOU!
We will learn that writing is a continual learning process rather than just a finished product to be evaluated
and graded, end of story. Think of the analogy of a writer’s practice to that of an athlete and musician – do they do a
perfect long jump or symphony on the first try? It’s about practice, practice and not always what we think is
perfection. Besides supporting your continuing development of written sophistication and innovative/real life
research (not the typical research you might always think of) this class will introduce you to different and exciting
writing strategies through essays and a creative research work, and will culminate with a portfolio, with a personal
reflection. We’ll write journals in which you will express your personal take/interpretation on the reading as well as
what you think the writer is trying to express. Writers we will read and become inspired by include nonfiction works
of: Touré, Colum McCann, “The Long Winded Lady”/Maeve Brennan, E.B. White, Sandra Cisneros, Jane Jacobs,
Edmund Berrigan, Sloane Crosley, Nora Ephron, and others, as well as to be announced, yet to be published
readings we’ll find on blogs and news sites that fit in with the explorations in our class (a little surprise can’t hurt!)
Tina Iemma
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
10:40-12:05
12:15-13:40
16955
16956
“Voicing Self: Identity, Community, & Education”
ENG1000C is a writing intensive course designed to engage students in the writing process. While the
majority of class discussions will revolve around students’ writing, essays and excerpts of various texts will be read
and analyzed for their content, language and structure. By examining readings and composing related essays that use
the common modes of writing, such as narration, description, argumentation/persuasion and analysis, students will
look at topics of interest in the fields of identity, community and education. The work produced will be fueled by the
students’ interests, experiences, passions and beliefs within these fields. Each week students should expect to spend
a considerable amount of time reading, developing their own ideas, writing and actively engaging in the
conversation of composition. The goal is to engage students’ thought processes as well as broaden their perspectives
to help them become more critical thinkers and reflective writers.
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Abriana Jette
Monday/Thursday
9:05-10:30
10510
In Love & War: Discovering the Self through Rhetoric
This class will change the way you use, read, and understand language. First, we will focus inward to gain a
greater understanding of the ideas which make us tick. After we’ve established a strong grasp on our own “self” or
“identity”, we will observe the way we identify with others: how we love, how we laugh, and maybe even why we
find happiness in some cases but not others. These conclusions will be based off our feedback and comprehension of
literary texts that address the philosophical concept of love. Once we’ve tried to put our own definition on the
ultimate human experience, we’ll explore external influences like the media, national security, and the philosophy of
commodification to see if these external influences coincide with or negatively impact our internal desires.
That might sound complicated. It’s not. We’ll tackle this mission by reading the masters, the experts of the
field, the writers who have chosen the best words and put them in the best order. We will study them and learn the
rules of rhetoric. Occasionally, we might even break some of those rules.
This semester you are responsible for multiple assignments. Every class requires reading and writing. A
journal, which will document your thought process, is also required. There will be FOUR journal checks throughout
the semester.
Laura Lisabeth
Monday/Thursday
9:05-10:30
10754
The Writer As Collector
What happens when we release ourselves from the quest for the answer to a specific research question, and,
instead, let our stops along the way dictate meaning for us? Do we trust google to do our searching for us? Let’s
unpack the verb “to google.”
Thinking through linkages between seemingly random objects is a useful way to approach writing, but
focusing on the links and how they illuminate those objects is where the interesting stuff is. What links one stop on a
search to another? Sometimes links are interesting because of what you unexpectedly find there. Sometimes they are
characterized by what is not there, what is erased or hidden. During the semester you will keep a Commonplace
Book, a notebook where you will collect your own text objects of interest: bits of writing, lyrics, ads, wordless
visuals--anything that draws your attention and asks you to collect it. You will use your Commonplace Book to
generate writing and to investigate the terrain of the link.
Sharon Marshall
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
12:15-13:40
15:25-16:50
11647
11554
“Making the Familiar Strange and the Strange Familiar: Composing and Analyzing Texts, Conducting
Research, Constructing Arguments and Experimenting with Code Meshing, Genre Mashing, Remixing, and
Telling It Like It Is”
Have you ever looked at a familiar object with a magnifying glass or kaleidoscope or viewed a specimen
through a microscope? Maybe you like to take pictures of yourself on your phone or computer and have played
around with funny effects that rearrange your features and make your own face an unfamiliar sight. These are
examples of making the familiar strange by noticing details that you might not have seen if you hadn’t taken a closer
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or different look. In this English composition class you will look closely and differently at language, your life
experiences and the cultures that give rise to them. Writing will be the lens and method that will allow you to notice,
analyze what you notice and think critically about it. You’ll make the strange familiar when you use writing and
digital technologies to create and examine texts, explore new ideas, research complex issues, and when you write
and learn in a community with other students. Throughout the semester you’ll be reading, listening to, and
responding to the work of other writers in the class. You’ll also be analyzing and reflecting upon how you write, the
qualities and conventions associated with different types of writing and ways of composing, and the challenges
presented by each assignment. The main assignments are a cultural memoir and a multimedia research project based
on a question or issue that concerns you and has implications for society and the world.
Manuel Martinez
Monday/Thursday
Monday/Thursday
15:25-16:50
17:00-18:25
11553
11239
Money and Success
We say that money makes the world go round, but why does it? We all use money all the time, but we
rarely stop to think about what it is, how it works or how it changes our behavior. Throughout this course, we will
be investigating a variety of issues related to how we think about money, and how our ideas about money influence
our behavior. I will assign readings that provide perspectives on some of these issues, and after thinking about these
readings and looking at some of the ways money is used and thought about around you, you will investigate some of
these issues on your own.
Vickie Masseus
Monday
17:00-19:50
10504
The work of the course involves an investigation into various means of composing texts, such as the
relationships between brainstorming, reading, research, revising, and editing. Students will work in a workshop
setting, sharing their writing and responding to the work of their classmates. The course offers students an
introduction to writing studies, an opportunity to experiment with their own developing styles, a chance to explore a
range of compositional and rhetorical strategies, and the opportunity to research ideas and topics of relevance to
their own lives and chosen disciplines. The course seeks to show that writing is a process of thinking and a powerful
medium for the intellectual, social, and professional growth of both students and teachers.
Sammantha McCalla
Tuesday/Friday
9:05-10:30
10506
The work of the course involves an investigation into various means of composing texts, such as the
relationships between brainstorming, reading, research, revising, and editing. Students will work in a workshop
setting, sharing their writing and responding to the work of their classmates. The course offers students an
introduction to writing studies, an opportunity to experiment with their own developing styles, a chance to explore a
range of compositional and rhetorical strategies, and the opportunity to research ideas and topics of relevance to
their own lives and chosen disciplines. The course seeks to show that writing is a process of thinking and a powerful
medium for the intellectual, social, and professional growth of both students and teachers.
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M. Amanda Moulder
Tuesday* 10:40-12:05
Tuesday* 12:15-13:40
Tuesday* 13:50-15:15
11643
11645
11640
*These classes are hybrid; the second day of class is held on-line.
“Personal Stories/Public Engagement”
This course begins with two ideas. The first comes from novelist and essayist Barbara Kingsolver, who
explains that good, descriptive writing "works its magic by putting a reader inside another person’s life. The pace is
as slow as life. It’s as detailed as life. It requires you, the reader, to fill in an outline of the words with vivid pictures
drawn subconsciously from your own life" (230).The next quote come from political theorist Iris Marion Young,
who argues that personal storytelling has political significance:
Narrative can serve to explain to outsiders what practices, places, or symbols mean to the people who hold
them. Values, unlike norms, often cannot be justified through argument. But neither are they arbitrary. . . .
Through narrative the outsiders may come to understand why the insiders value what they value. . . Values
appear as a result of a history, by which a group relates “where they are coming from’. (131-132)
Our course begins this way because these writers explain a key connection between personal stories and
public engagement. As Young explains, when someone tells us “their story” we, as audience members, have the
opportunity to identify how that speaker or writer formed his or her opinions or assumptions, to identify and perhaps
see across our differences, and in the best case scenario, we have the chance to find common ground with that
person. We can take the best advantage of this opportunity if the storyteller does a really wonderful job, as
Kingsolver explains, attempting to place us inside of their experiences. There’s value in understanding others’
experiences: when we know more about others’ lives, we become stronger, more empathetic communicators
because we have a deeper understanding of our many different potential listeners, readers, and viewers.
During this class, you will use narrative and persuasive writing to explore your personal encounters with
public issues involving identity and language. You will share your writing with your classmates and become
attentive, active public audience members for one another. Also, you will analyze your own stories to locate the
topics that inspire you to take part in larger public conversations. Next, you will insert yourself into a significant
public discussion, conduct primary and secondary research, and search for common ground with people who may
disagree with you, but still care about the same issues as you. Finally, you will experiment with digital forms of
communication in an effort to reach real-world audiences. The entire semester will be guided by the idea that when
we investigate and write about what we already love to think about, we are better writers and sharper critical
thinkers.
This section of English 1000C will share many assignments with Professor Sophie Bell’s sections.
Kerri Mulqueen
Tuesday/Friday
9:05-10:30 10515
The work of the course involves an investigation into various means of composing texts, such as the
relationships between brainstorming, reading, research, revising, and editing. Students will work in a workshop
setting, sharing their writing and responding to the work of their classmates. The course offers students an
introduction to writing studies, an opportunity to experiment with their own developing styles, a chance to explore a
range of compositional and rhetorical strategies, and the opportunity to research ideas and topics of relevance to
their own lives and chosen disciplines. The course seeks to show that writing is a process of thinking and a powerful
medium for the intellectual, social, and professional growth of both students and teachers.
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Sean Murray
Monday* 10:40-12:05
On-line
16741
10508
Hon 1030C
*This class is hybrid; the second day of class is held on-line.
“Writing for Social Justice”
Cheap fast food, energy-saving light bulbs, stereotypes in reality television, our privacy on social
networking sites…What do these seemingly disparate topics have to do with each other? They all connect to the
theme of social justice. As our world continues to grow in size and complexity, we must grapple with pressing
questions about how to build the most ethical society possible. Individually and collectively, we must ask, ‘What’s
the fairest, most responsible way forward?’ when working through the countless dilemmas facing our communities.
Because social justice is a concept that applies to numerous issues, you will have opportunities to investigate topics
that speak to you, whether they be related to education, the environment, the economy, health care, peace and war,
gender, race, or social class (to name just a few). As we move through various writing projects, we will ask
questions related to audience and genre: What do readers expect from a piece like this? What conventions should I
take seriously? Which rules can I break? Class sessions will often function as writing workshops where we propose
our initial ideas, share drafts, elicit feedback, and reflect critically on that feedback. At the semester’s end, we will
put together portfolios that illustrate our journeys as writers and critical thinkers.
Meghan Nolan
Monday/Thursday
15:25-16:50
10507
“Exploring Disparate Identity through the Critical and Creative”
This course will provide an overview of the dynamic nature of identity through various types of texts and
composition, both critical and creative. Throughout the semester, students will examine how others classify
themselves through a diverse set of readings, and start to piece together the many divergent components that makeup the “identified self.” They will simultaneously explore their uniqueness in terms of these ideals, and attempt to
further define their own identities through their writing.
This writing intensive course will cover the core forms of academic composition and the associated process
in a collaborative environment— ideas will regularly be shared through peer-review and group discussion. These
activities will help students sharpen their critical thinking skills and become better scholarly readers and writers. As
a result, each student will leave a written legacy, which will showcase his/her reflective identity via a portfolio that
is analytical and artistic in nature.
Derek Owens
Tuesday* 15:25-16:50
10800
Hon 1030C
*This class is hybrid; it meets face-to-face on Tuesdays, with student doing online work the rest of the week
“Recording Culture”
The focus of this course is on remembering, investigating, researching, recording, and testifying about
cultures and subcultures that you're a part of, have access to, or are interested in. We begin with memoir, where you
recall stories about yourself, family, places, and events from your past. What do we remember, and what do we
forget? What is behind the compulsion to remember (and forget)? In what ways are memories constructs that evolve
over time? What’s the value of reflecting on personal histories? Then we shift to a focus on cultural analysis:
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looking closely at some culture or subculture, mainstream or underground, and exploring it from a variety of angles.
(We'll use the term "culture" quite broadly; in the past students have written about skateboarding, hip hop, their
extended [Greek, Pakistani, Italian, Irish, Dominican, Jamaican, etc.] families, a neighborhood block, World of
Warcraft, virtually every kind of music and its followers, queer zines, curious ethnic traditions, mediums, gang life,
etc.) The idea is to look at these cultural entities as phenomena with multiple layers that can be peeled back and
better understood through further analysis. Then we close the semester with a multimedia research project of your
choice inspired by your thinking during the semester.
Part of the impetus behind this theme is it’s exciting to learn about the cultural backgrounds and interests of
St. John’s students. In my opinion the richest, most exciting thing about our University is the thousands of unique
stories contained within our student body. (If I could I would redesign our core curriculum so that it highlights and
privileges the study of those stories and cultures all throughout the core curricula, in a wide range of courses.) But
another reason for this course’s theme is a belief in the value of testifying. It’s motivated by what we might call a
preservational ethic. The Center for Biological Diversity posts this on their website:
It’s frightening but true: Our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and
animals--the sixth wave of extinctions in the past half-billion years. We’re currently experiencing the worst
spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction is a
natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five species per year.
Scientists estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally
dozens going extinct every day.... It could be a scary future indeed, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all
species possibly heading toward extinction by mid-century….
Those extinctions aren’t just limited to flora and fauna. By some estimates more than half of human
languages will become extinct in your lifetime. And with those languages will disappear so many personal
memories, family traditions, and cultural practices. The 21st century will be known as the one in which so much
was irreparably lost. While we can’t do anything about species preservation in our short little course, we can explore
what it means to testify and preserve, through story-telling and research, the many local histories and events that
matter to us.
Alison Perry
Monday/Thursday
12:15-13:40
10755
Memory and Memorials
During the construction of the newly-completed Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan, debates about how
best to honor 9/11 victims while rebuilding Ground Zero served to highlight the importance of architecture and
geography as technologies of memory. This section of English 1000c investigates the methods through which
various individuals, cultures and nations remember significant past events and historical figures. Focusing on
smaller monuments like statues, as well as on larger memorial sites such as Ground Zero or Gettysburg, this course
invites you to think about the different kinds of cultural work these physical, geographic sites of memory perform.
In addition, this course will also consider literary and popular cultural texts as repositories of memory and archives
of memorialization. Readings from Marita Sturken, Annette Kuhn, Ethan Canin, and James Young will be included.
Throughout the semester, we will be combining personal and analytical writing in a variety of low-, middle-, and
high-stakes assignments.
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Tara Roeder
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
12:15-13:40
13:50-15:15
15:25-16:50
10512
10756
11653
“Traversing Genre”
Welcome to Eng 1000C! This course will give you the opportunity to explore writing through multiple
lenses and approaches. For the next few months, we will become a community of writers, thinking about our craft
and looking at how a variety of texts—especially your own and those of the other writers in class—work.
The texts you create this semester will come out of your passion, your experiences, and your beliefs, and
they will grow as you critically re-envision them. I will not give you a list of topics to write about; this course will
allow you the opportunity to create your own content, exploring concepts like self, family, memory, place, culture,
and politics through the use of forms such as memoir, essay, documentary, manifesto, poetry, graphic text, literary
analysis, and letter. Students in the past have done amazing work designing their own projects, creating graphic
novels that incorporated historical research, spoken word poetry that was later performed at open-mics, hand-crafted
books containing fairy tales and family histories, non-linear memoirs, documentaries, pieces of investigative
journalism, and a variety of essays that explored everything from straight-edge culture to graffiti to how to buy a car
that fits your budget. Now you will have the opportunity to craft your own vision as a writer while exploring the
conversations surrounding various genres.
As you compose your texts, both your work and you as a writer will grow in significant ways. We’ll look
at writing both as an act of self-construction and a way of connecting to a larger world, and we’ll engage in a
process of dialogue with each other, one that includes drafting, sharing, responding, listening, and revising. We'll
move through various genres, exploring their possibilities and pushing their boundaries, as we attempt to make
meaning out of issues we care deeply about.
Vittoria Rubino
Tuesday/Friday
17:00-18:25
13867
Journey (The Personal Narrative and Short Story)
Our section of composition is designed to help you build reading and writing skills, improve your ability to
analyze and critique your work and the work of others, and to gain confidence in your creative process. A majority
of our sessions will be conducted as writing workshops—a space to share and enhance our pieces. Writing is always
a public and social interaction, and as such, we will not only be working together on reading and writing projects,
but also learning how to form a writing community and fostering a combination of group and independent work.
Throughout the semester, you will develop the ability to organize your ideas, think critically, and find your
own voice. In order to progress our own skills, we are going to study a variety of writing styles and stages of the
writing process in both our own writing and the work of others. Through this class, you will get into the habit of
editing and proofreading your work and you will learn how to develop your voice in your writing.
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Anna Sicari
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
12:15-13:40
15:25-16:50
11641
10876
Ridding Ourselves of Doubt: Writing, Experimenting with Genre, and Putting Our Voices Out There
Welcome to English 1000C! This class is designed to make us write—and then write again; we will be
exploring the process of writing, and how we talk about ourselves and the world around us through language.
Everyone has something that interests them and therefore, everyone has something that they can write (and write
well) about. Our readings will include memoirs, short stories, essays, poems, manifestos, journalistic pieces, blogs-& then some—in order to inspire us and see ourselves as writers and to put our voices in conversation with the
world. What kind of writer are you and what do you want to write about? These are the kind of questions we will be
reflecting on throughout the semester and figuring out both individually and as a class.
William Torgerson
Thursday*
Thursday*
On-line
9:05-10:30
10:40-12:05
11547
10513
12418
*These classes are hybrid; the second day of class is held on-line.
Introduction to Writing Studies: The Writer’s Workshop
The goal of this course is to reignite enthusiasm for writing by allowing students lots of choices when it
comes to their reading and writing projects. The course will begin with students creating what are called “writing
territories,” an activity that asks students to list some people and places they know well, classes they wish
were offered, and to give a sample schedule of their daily life. As the students become writers in the class they will
begin to read about the craft of writing from other writers. To write in a workshop will mean that students read and
write every week and work in small groups where they respond to one another’s writing. The final project will be a
multimodal online writing portfolio that makes use of words, images, sound, video, and principles of design.
Anwar Uhuru
Monday
17:00-19:50
13863
City and Life as Text
Welcome to ENG 1000C, our course will look at the ways in which identity is shaped through language
through social and political constructs and contracts.
We live in a metropolis that is called New York City. Have you ever driven in a car, walked in a
neighborhood, rode a train or a bus and thought: “What was this place before this Starbucks arrived?” Our city is
unique in the fact that the names of streets, buildings, neighborhoods, and roads have historical significance. Have
you ever sat during a holiday meal or a visit with an elder in your family and was astonished at his or her story? This
course will survey the various places and people that have shaped not only New York City, the United States, but
also our world history. This course will take an interdisciplinary look into the oral, written, and visual texts that
explain history contexts and the contemporary world around us.
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Nathalie Virgintino
Monday/Thursday
17:00-18:25
13869
Exploring Composition and Voice
Welcome to English 1000C! In this class, we will experiment and explore all types of expression and
composition. During the semester, we will explore the writing process including brainstorming, editing, deleting,
rewriting and editing again. While exploring the writing process, we will think about the ways we express ourselves
through language and writing, while exploring different genres including the essay, poetry, manifestos, blogging,
memoirs, short stories, narratives and more. We will also think about writing and expression in a larger sense. We’ll
be thinking about composing in a variety of spaces and transforming our writing into other genres, including visual
and digital work. This could include paintings, performances, blogs, photography, videos, etc. While exploring those
genres and more, we’ll think about what best suits what we want to express and reflecting on those choices. We’ll
read a variety of different works in different styles to inspire us to see how we can express ourselves.
In the class, you will find what you like to write about and how you like writing about it. To achieve an
awareness and experiment with your voice, you must explore. There will be writing and lots of rewriting. We’ll
take that writing and transform it into something else! We will work as a community to respond to each other and
discuss each other’s writing. In addition to our major projects, there will be in class writing, shorter assignments,
prompts and reflections to help you develop your composition skills.
Staten Island Campus
Chiara Cillerai
Tuesday* 9:05-10:30
Tuesday* 10:40-12:05
Tuesday* 13:50-15:15
*These classes are hybrid; the second day of class is held on-line.
“Reading and Writing in the Digital Age”
The focus of this course is on what people have said and what we say about the effects that today's everincreasing technological transformations have had, and continue to have, to the ways we learn, the ways we
understand the world, and each other. During the course of the semester, you will explore questions such as: what
does it mean to have digital literacies? What are we gaining, or missing, by being so connected to technological
devices? What do reading and writing mean in this context? How do these transformations affect education, the way
we teach and the way we learn?
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Spring 2015
Course Themes for DNY 1000C: Discover New York
Queens Campus
Elizabeth Albert
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14427
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
16090
Honors
“Art and Architecture in NYC”
This course will introduce the student to visual art and architecture in the context of the culture and history
of New York City. Students will have the opportunity to experience first-hand some of the world’s finest examples
of painting, sculpture, architecture, and public art. Course material is designed to develop greater awareness of the
cultural richness and diversity of NYC as well as develop valuable critical thinking and writing skills.
Doug Cantelmo
Thursday
17:00-18:50
18:51-19:50
16092
“Urban Governance and Modern Development”
This course will explore the expansion of New York City’s urban form from the colonial era to the present
day as directed by municipal authorities and private interests.
Kendra Chiu
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14077
“No New Yorker Left Behind: Neighborhoods and Social Change in NYC”
As New York City has undergone several social, ethnic, and economic evolutions, in this course, students
will explore and investigate these changes within and among select neighborhoods over time. Students will also
learn to develop a critical lens to identify and explain how structural forces, social processes, and individuals shaped
these changes.
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Phyllis Conn
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14965
Tuesday
15:25-16:50
16:51-18:15
15970
“Immigration and Sports in the Global City”
Students examine the connection between sports and migration in New York City to explore the city’s
history. Topics will include the attraction of basketball in crowded late 19th century tenement districts; the
integration of baseball with the Great Migration of the 20th century; and the rise of cricket and soccer with increased
migration from the subcontinent, Latin America, and Africa after World War II.
Judy Cooperman
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14450
“NYC Arts and Culture”
In this course we will approach New York City with an emphasis on the arts and culture, exploring these
topics and the issues they suggest. For example, we will look at the galleries and museums that have emerged and
developed here, and the role of public art, and what this provides both to the public and to artists. In addition to
serving as a link with the City, this course will also connect students with the St. John’s University community.
Students will work on developing skills necessary for being successful in their academic careers, including, for
example, becoming familiar with the academic services available. This also includes taking part in Academic
Service Learning and working with the surrounding community.
Rachel Dolce
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
17034
Immigration to New York City
One of greatest influxes of immigration to the United States occurred in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries to New York City. Those that immigrated to New York City during that time as well as their descendants
molded and shaped what is known as “The Greatest City in the World.” This course will strive to give students a
better understanding of the humble beginnings and often difficult circumstances of the immigrants that came to New
York City during this time. This course will examine the immigrant experience in a broad context and then delve
into two case studies: The Italian and Jewish Experiences.
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Heather Dunn
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
17036
NYC Street and Museum Art
In this multi-media class, students will explore how public and street art, as well as the Hip-Hop culture
have impacted the art establishment of New York City. Focus will be placed on graffiti artists such as TAKI 183,
Basquiat, Haring, Lady Pink, and buildings such as 5 Pointz and the Bushwick Collective. As a class, students will
also explore many diverse NYC neighborhoods and art movements, starting with SoHo in the 1950s, and ending
with Bushwick in 2014.
Roxanne Earley
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14075
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14092
“Discover New York: Urbanism for a Changing Environment”
New York City is home to a diverse range of inhabitants, whose communities have transformed the urban
landscape into a network of neighborhoods- each distinct and unique in character. Increasing pressures from climate
change and environmental pollution continue to influence policy and practice for city planners, both at the
government and community levels. While city agencies prepare to mitigate the toxic effects of industrial
contamination and adapt our waterfront to protect it from storm surge and flooding, community based planners
combat a legacy of environmental discrimination whereby the city’s poorest and minority residents have had to bear
more than their fair share of an increasing environmental burden. This class will help students Discover New York
through the lens of our environment and the challenges we face moving forward in an age of environmental
awareness and climate change.
Juan Fernandez
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
15774
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
17037
The Socio-Political Landscape of New York City Post-World War II
This course will examine New York City’s rise as a global city during the last half of the twentieth century,
and into the 21st century. In particular, New York City will be analyzed decade by decade in order to examine the
myriad of issues the City faced on its quest to becoming a leading center for tourism, politics, and economics. Social
problems will also be explored, including racial unrest during the 1960’s, the City’s fiscal emergency of 1975, the
crime epidemic of the 1980’s, and the handing of the 9/11 attacks. Finally, New York City’s renaissance during the
1990’s will also be examined.
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Caroline Fuchs
Wednesday
17:00-18:50
18:51-19:50
11828
“Exploring NYC through Comics”
In this course we will explore graphic narratives (“comics”) in the context of New York City. From Stan
Lee’s Spider Man to Will Eisner’s Contract with God, New York City is an ever-present character in the landscape
of the comic arts. In addition to learning how to read “comics” critically, we will examine their historical and
cultural development, with a particular emphasis on the presence of the New York landscape. We will explore the
ways in which New York City is portrayed in this visual/textual medium, and the vital role that NYC played in the
development of the comics industry.
Victoria Funez
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14068
“Criminal Minds of New York City”
Whether it was the rise of rival ethnic gangs at Five Points, the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
fire, or the sensationalism of the trials for John Gotti, Jr., New York City has witnessed its share of headlines
portraying crimes since its beginnings as a thriving trading post in the 17th century. Yet the question remains as to
whether unique social conditions in New York City propagated several of these criminal acts and behaviors in the
first place. In this course, students will learn about the history of New York City through the lens of criminology,
which refers to the study of the causes, nature, and extent of crime and its respective social responses. Upon
examining crime as a social phenomenon, students will be able to apply criminological theories to relevant figures
and events in New York City—“the city that never sleeps”—especially in regards to crime.
Paul Gawkowski
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
10855
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14094
“Public Transit and Development of New York”
From the founding of New Amsterdam by the Dutch to the building of the subways, transportation has
played a critical role in the development of New York. The course will examine the role that transportation played in
the economic growth of New York City, including its development as the leading port in the United States which
attracted waves of immigrants to New York. It will also show how the development of the subways in the early 20th
Century shaped the City, allowing it to absorb those immigrants thus enabling New York to become the preeminent
city in the United States.
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Meghan Gilbert-Hickey
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
10670
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
15411
Honors
“The Popular Perspective: New York in the Public Imagination”
This course will focus on the (inter)national lore about New York City through the lens of popular
television, film, music, literature, and culture. We will think about the public perception of the city as a whole, as
well as individual boroughs, and will also examine the conflation of the entire city with, for example, Times Square.
Discussions may include hip hop and indie Brooklyn, Sex and the City Tours, the the New York City of Friends as
compared to that of How to Make it in America or Girls.
Nancy Greco
Wednesday
7:30-9:20
9:21-10:20
14056
“Discover New York: New York City Past, Present and Future”
This course will examine the history, government, and contemporary urban life of New York City, with a
focus on the key events that have shaped New York into the city it is today. In learning about important events and
developments like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the era of Robert Moses, and the attack on the World Trade Center,
we will explore the physical and social development of New York and the complexity of everyday life in the city.
Misbah Hyder
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
13042
Muslims in New York
Analyzing Political Art This class will analyze concepts of Islamophobia and Americanization through
political art, in order to break down the mainstream notions of "Islam versus the West". Political cartoons have
become a popular medium for political discourse in New York, and across the Muslim world. The class will begin
with discussions of the role political art has on shaping popular ideologies and move into analyzing political
cartoons from the New Yorker magazine, and various newspapers. Then, we will use our discussions of the
American perspective of these issues and examine modern political art from Turkey, Iran and the Arab World. This
will demonstrate that pulls between rising secularism and Western influence with Islam is New York and global.
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14964
New York: A City of Diasporas
Diasporas are scattered populations of people who have, for various reasons, migrated away from their
place of origin. This class will use New York as the crucial case study for understanding global migration and
diaspora communities. As a city rich with varying ethnic, national, religious and social populations, we can delve
into questions of why people decide to move from their homes, what are the experiences of diasporas globally, and
specifically in New York. Topics of discussion will include New York's history of immigrant influxes,
Americanization, and multiculturalism.
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Amelia Ingram
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14079
Immigration and Music in NYC
This course will explore the immigration experience in NYC through the lens of music and culture. Within
NYC's numerous ethnic communities, artists bring the traditions and culture of their homelands to the city. Students
will explore the history and musical traditions of several ethnic communities, in order to analyze the social,
economic and cultural impact of immigration in New York City. Students will observe cultural performances
(from folkloric, popular and religious) to gain the first-hand perspective of immigrant musicians. Students will
make connections between readings and personal observations with a group neighborhood fieldwork project.
Daniel Kelly
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14087
“DNY: History”
The students will explore this history of New York as a multicultural city. As a class we will look at how
immigrants to New York have shaped the growth of the city. We will look at how some of these immigrant groups
lived, and the problems they faced. We will explore the lives of modern immigrants, their trials and their
contributions to present day New York.
Haiba Khalil
Wednesday
7:30-9:20
9:21-10:20
12847
“Political Theater and Film in New York”
The purpose of the DNY: Political Theater and Film course is to learn about the junctures at which
performing arts and politics intersect in New York. The class is designed to examine the theatrical form that
emerged as a response to political and social changes in New York. The course will trace the history of New York
through important social and political movements and the political theater and film that demonstrate the joys and
sorrows of underrepresented groups and/or cultures. We will examine and interpret how art reflects political ideals,
desires, or troubles during different time periods in New York history.
Thomas Kitts
Wednesday
7:30-9:20
9:21-10:20
14058
“New York in Literature and Music”
This section of Discover New York will study immigration, religion, race/ethnicity, and poverty through
the lens of literature and music. Representative works studied include the fiction of Stephen Crane, John Cheever,
and Jamaica Kincaid; the poems of Sarah Teasdale, Claude McKay, Frank O’Hara, and Allen Ginsberg; the non-
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fiction of Fanny Fern, Abraham Cahan, Langston Hughes, and Gay Talese, and the music of Leonard Bernstein,
Frank Sinatra, the Velvet Underground, the Ramones, Afrika Bambaataa, the Strokes, and Jay-Z. Among other
assignments and trips, students will work in small groups and explore two New York neighborhoods.
Sharon Lambino
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
17035
Law in New York City
This course will explore civil and criminal procedure and law relevant to New York City, the foundation
and evolution of these laws, and their impact on the rights and freedoms of the population of New York City on both
the individual and larger population as a whole.
Belenna Lauto
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14059
“Photographic New York”
This course will provide an introduction to New York City, examine it through the lens of the camera, and
discuss how photography has shaped our perception of New York, its people, its structures, flavor and rhythm.
Themes of immigration, race/ethnicity, religion, wealth, poverty, and the urban environment will be addressed in
relation to how photographers have shaped our perception and views of history. Students are required to take field
trips as part of their study, photograph, and complete 6 hours of course related service.
Paula Kay Lazrus
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
11129
“The Ever Changing City”
This course investigates how New York City went from a green lush island to an urban metropolis. This
trajectory will be demonstrated through the physical transformation of the island and through the eyes and actions of
those who settled here. Along the way you will develop skills that will help you navigate your academic experience
and that will be applicable to your college experience and beyond. Whether you are new to town, or have lived here
all your life, you will quickly find that there are many things to explore and learn about this ever - changing city.
A. Andrea Licari
Wednesday
7:30-9:20
9:21-10:20
14057
“Fashion/ Lifestyle Perspective”
New York City is a dynamic creative enclave of a continuous flow of immigrants who bring with them
their culture values and sense of fashion. These immigrants are surrounded by a fast paced metropolis with its own
sense of ever changing fashion and culture. The combination is an explosive joint venture and a new American
lifestyle of fashion that is recreated each season. I would like to take my students on a historical voyage through the
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development of New York City and show what the immigrant classes brought to the American lifestyle and how this
in turn contributes to the global fashion industry.
Anthony Marziliano
Wednesday
17:00-18:50
18:51-19:50
14062
New York City Through a Literary Lens
This course will examine three distinct time periods in the history of New York City, through a critical
literary lens. Starting with the early 1900’s and the tenement/immigration period, continuing through the 1950’s, and
ending with modern day, post 9/11 New York City, this course will give students a balanced look at where the city
was at the turn of the 20th century, and where it is today. Taken together with personal experiences and field-based
learning, students will learn about New York City, gaining a fresh and unique perspective.
Jennifer Newsom
Wednesday
17:00-18:50
18:51-19:50
14071
“Discovering Green Spaces”
What is a Green Space? Why are they important? Rapid urbanization is a threat to Green Spaces. In 2008,
more people were living in urban environments than in rural areas. This phenomenon is more visible in New York
City. This course explores how urbanization takes place, using immigration as an example of population growth.
Come explore green spaces; how they enhance your quality of life, how green spaces are designed and constructed,
why they are important and how they are transformative within a society and the economy.
Edward Olive
Wednesday
7:30-9:20
9:21-10:20
10827
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
11697
New York and War
The course is intended as an introduction for incoming freshman to the unique urban setting that is New
York City, through the lens of war and conflict. Throughout the semester this specific DNY course will focus on
how global conflict, conventional war, and wartime politics has directly effected New York City. Conversely due to
its size, inherent capitalist nature, location, and ethnic diversity, this course must examine how New York has
directly affected global conflict, conventional war, and wartime politics.
Peter Pantina
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
11136
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14097
DNY: New York as a Pioneer for Global Sustainability
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This course provides students with an interdisciplinary overview of sustainability politics, policies, issues,
movements, ideas, challenges and solutions with an emphasis on the precedent New York has set as a pioneer of
sustainable development. This class will focus on student awareness, understanding and integration of diverse
themes with respect to sustainable measures that correlate state-specific actions and its global impacts. As
sustainability is a cross-disciplinary field, this course will specifically highlight New York as a leader of a global
movement that necessitates social corporate responsibility and accountability amongst governments, industries and
civil societies. The class is designed to examine New York as a role model that has adapted to social, economic,
environmental and political threats and how it has used maintainable strategies to emerge as a global leader of
sustainable development.
Diane Paravazian
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14078
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14093
Wednesday
17:00-18:50
18:51-19:50
17040
Monday
17:00-18:50
18:51-19:50
15979
Multilingual and Multi-Culinary Capital of the World
This course is about the many cultures in New York City, their history, languages, especially their cuisines
and the language of their culinary specialties, from the colonial period to the present. In each class, discussions
begin with a conversation about cultures, languages and food preferences of the students. Students explore
historical, cultural and culinary slices of the multilingual and multicultural apple. They do research, travel to various
sites of the city, discover and analyze their own New York as well as the multiple worlds in New York; they gain an
appreciation of a major global city by connecting with the city's communities.
Lawrence Pitilli
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14072
“Communication in the City”
There is always more than one way to look at anything and a great metropolis like New York certainly
cannot escape any type of perception. In this course we will study how to view the people, places, and things of
NYC through a conscious use of different areas of the brain. In addition, body language analysis, an investigation on
how and why New Yorkers "tawk" the way they do and interesting speech and language related trivia about this city
will be covered. Finally, we will learn ASL - American Sign Language - using urban related words and concepts as
the basis for our vocabulary.
Barry Sherman
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14066
“The Physical City”
From the Manhattan skyline to Coney Island, the built environment of New York City – its organization
and its architecture – has been the most recognizable, and possibly the most influential, in the world in the 20th, and
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now into the 21st, century. This course will examine the built environment and architecture of New York and its
relationship to its origins and its effect on those who live and work in it.
Albert Silvestri
Wednesday
7:30-9:20
9:21-10:20
11054
“From the Dutch to Robert Moses to Jane Jacobs, the Making of NYC's Streets”
This course will focus on the history, government, and urban planning of New York City. We will examine
the current condition of the city’s built environment and the impact it has had on its population over time. New
York’s historical foundations, cultural contributions, and the national trends that it has started will be ubiquitous
throughout the class.
Dejan Trickovic
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14064
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
14089
“NYC: All That Jazz!”
Although it emerged in the deep south, jazz music really came of age after it had established its presence in
New York. It was here that jazz became what some have called “America’s greatest gift to humankind”! In this class
we explore this interesting relationship between a music and a city. How much of New York is in jazz music and
how much of the spirit of jazz – with its crafty use of improvisation, innovation, freedom to explore and, generally,
“push the envelope” – is in New York? It is our bold thesis that New York was destined to become the world capital
of jazz and that jazz was destined to reach its apex in the clubhouses, ballrooms and concert halls of New York
City. It was a match made in heaven… and it’s still going strong.
Heidi Upton
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
14070
Honors
“Art in New York”
This course is an analysis of aspects of the city of New York through the lens of multiple art forms.
Students will explore the world of the artists and the work they create in a city that is a center of global culture.
Thomas Ward
Wednesday
10:40-12:30
12:31-13:30
10671
“Criminal Justice in New York”
This section of the DNY Program will explore New York City’s fascinating Criminal Justice System,
including its police, courts and correctional systems. In studying the criminal justice system, students will also gain
a deeper understanding of the history and cultural heritage of New York City.
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Additional DNY 1000C classes
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
17038
Wednesday
13:50-15:40
15:41-16:40
17039
Wednesday
17:00-18:50
18:50-19:50
17041
Staten Island Campus
Marilyn Dono-Koulouris
Wednesday
11:30-13:20
14:00-15:00
11620
Wednesday
14:00-15:00
15:30-17:20
13043
Wednesday
9:30-11:20
14:00-15:00
14271
Wednesday
14:00-15:00
17:30-19:20
14448
Reserved for Learning Communities
The Global City
Discover New York is an innovative course, which uses the city as a ”living textbook”. It is designed to
encourage students to engage intellectually and personally with the global city. The course focuses on themes of
immigration, leadership, poverty, and the environment continually tying in its history. Students are required to
participate in field-based excursions and to attend on-campus speaker events as part of their course of study. The
course is designed around the themes of Urban Development and Social Institutions.
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Spring 2015
Course Themes for SCI 1000C: Scientific Inquiry
Queens Campus
Rami Alsaber
Monday/Thursday
Monday/Thursday
9:05-10:30
10:40-12:05
10697
11463
Concepts in Biology
The aim of this course is to familiarize students with an essential understanding of the scientific method
utilizing general concepts in the biological and information sciences. The content of this course will initially expose
students to a number of relevant biological concepts such as evolution, classical genetics, and molecular biology and
continue to address issues relevant to information sciences and biology including biotechnology, Next Generation
Sequencing and analytics.
Robin Appel
Monday/Thursday
7:30-8:55
15780
“Global Warming”
In public discourse there is much discussion about whether climate change is real. In this course you will
discover that there is no scientific controversy. We will delve into the science behind global warming through
reading, lectures, and discussion.
Olga Binyaminov
Monday/Thursday
7:30-8:55
15779
13:50-16:40
11077
Jennifer Chabra
Wednesday
“Atomic Theory”
The overall goal of thinking critically about science (and by extension to other fields as well) is a multistage, multi-faceted process. The course will allow students to recognize the nature of a problem, question its
elements, actively investigate those elements, reason through the results of that inquiry to possible answers,
accept and refine the results of that reasoning, and finally, act on that acceptance.
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Edith Chasen-Cerreta
Online
10561
“Geoscience”
This class is an integrated study of the scientific method in relation to the theories and principles which
define the Earth's formation as a planet and the formation of the Earth's surface through the historical development
of plate tectonics theory. Students will understand the geologic time scale in its relation to the rock and fossil
records and the sequence of life on Earth and the role of the geoscientist in today's society.
Thomas DeCanio
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
12:15-13:40
13:50-15:15
15782
15131
“The 7 Great Ideas in Physics”
Using as a touchstone, the development of the scientific method and how scientific inquiry proceeds, this
course will present the major concepts which revolutionized our understanding of the physical world. After a look
at science in the ancient world, we will examine the great ideas that overturned conventional thought, including the
Copernican model of the solar system, the Galilean/Newtonian view of the universe, the energy concept, entropy,
and the statistical view of matter, and finally relativity and quantum theories. Emphasis will be not only on the ideas
themselves, but on the context of the times and cultures in which they were formulated, and how they relate to the
progress and place of science in society today.
Grace DeLise-Vangi
Monday
19:10-22:00
17013
“Forensic Science”
Students will practice the skills of scientific inquiry, scientific literacy, and scientific numeracy through the
analysis of crime case studies and laboratory experiences. Using the topic of forensic science, this course will apply
the principles of scientific knowledge and the skills to analyze various case studies involving crime scene
investigation & crime reconstruction. Students will be asked to make careful observations, precise measurements,
use the scientific method, deductive reasoning and critical thinking skills to analyze case studies. Topics covered
include the history of forensic science, rules of evidence, collection and processing of evidence, trace evidence, hair
and fiber, blood spatter patterns, DNA fingerprinting as well as document and handwriting analysis. The course uses
lecture, discussion and laboratory exercises to enhance the student’s understanding of the scientific method in
various situations and to show how crime scene investigation and forensic science really use the scientific method.
Maura Flannery
Monday/Thursday
7:30-8:55
15772
Concepts in Biology
Scientific Inquiry is a one-semester core course designed for students who are not planning to pursue a
career in science. The aim is to make you better informed about science, but more importantly, to give you a better
sense of what it is to do science, what scientific research is all about, why it is so challenging to do, and why it can
be fascinating. In addition, when you leave this course, you should have a better grasp of some of science topics
reported in the media and a better critical sense of the strengths and weaknesses of such reports.
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Jonathan Fowler
Tuesday/Friday
9:05-10:30
10526
“Kineseology”
The science of movement: Kinesiology teaches how our body moves and functions in athletic form. The
class will focus on sports nutrition, muscle structure and function, as well as cardiovascular structure and how these
relate to athletic performance. A very relevant class for student-athletes, sports management majors and anyone
interested in health.
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
On-line
10:40-12:05
13:50-15:15
15854
13115
11562
Honors
“Practical Botany”
Plants are indispensable parts of our lives. This course examines how humans use plants for chemicals,
medicine, fuel, and food. An emphasis on nutrition, sustainability and drugs from caffeine to marijuana shows the
relevancy of science in our daily lives.
Matthew Graziose
Monday/Thursday
15:25-16:50
14515
Honors
Nutrition
Food, Nutrition and Behavior will guide students through the relevant research in food choice, control of
food intake and associated pathologies. Introductory anatomy and physiology will be presented in the context of
taste and digestion, but main focus of the course will be on the many determinants of eating behavior including:
intrapersonal (physiological and psychological), interpersonal (parental, social, cultural), environmental, and
political. Specific regard will be given to the applicability of science to combating modern epidemics of chronic
disease and the role of the individual, families, institutions and government.
Roberta Hayes
Tuesday* 13:50-15:15
17063
Infectious Diseases
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of science and scientific inquiry through the study of
specific topics and issues in modern science. Students can choose to study topics in the fields of atomic theory,
energy, environmental science, geoscience, evolution and quantum mechanics. This section has an Infectious
Disease & Immunology focus and we will study the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease and the Human Immune
System as examples of “Scientific Inquiry”.
*This class is hybrid; the second day of class is held on-line.
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James LaSalle
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
12:15-13:40
13:50-15:15
10778
13117
“Origins and Conflicts”
Origins and Conflicts will be discussed as the course navigates through 3.8 billion years of Earth's history.
The many theories of how life originated on the planet as well as, the origin of evolutionary scientific thought will
be explored. The conflicting arguments surrounding creation and evolution, the origin of the first cell, the impact on
diversity by micro and macroevolution, the extinction of the dinosaurs, and the dawn of humanity are just a few of
the topics that will be discussed.
Brook Lauro
Tuesday/Friday
Online
12:15-13:40
17030
16682
“Biodiversity”
A wonderful and spectacular aspect of life on earth is biodiversity: from genes, to species, to ecosystems.
There are millions of species alive today and it has taken billions of years for them to evolve to their current level of
complexity. Through the lens of scientific inquiry this course examines the evolutionary path of biological diversity
from how cells developed some 3.8 billion years ago, through historic mass extinctions, to present day diversity.
Students learn about the evolution of fascinating organisms, past to present, for example, from dinosaurs to birds. A
focus of the course is the current day losses of biodiversity due to the activities of man including: habitat loss, the
introduction of invasive species and global warming. Throughout the semester we discuss conservation and
environmental ethics including why species have value.
Paula Kay Lazrus
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
12:15-13:40
15:25-16:50
10527
13120
“Physical Geography”
In this section you will be exploring our planet, how it functions and all the different systems of growth and
change that affect it (including human agency). This class is also part of an Environmental Learning Community.
Kevin Moses
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
15:25-16:50
17:00-18:25
15783
15816
“The Diseased State”
The course will provide an introduction to the hallmarks of cancer, focusing on immortality and lack of
growth controls of abnormal cells, capabilities acquired during the multistep development of cancerous tumors. The
long history of tobacco (cigarette smoking) and lung cancer will be used to discuss Scientific Inquiry and its
relationship to public health; we will cover the US tobacco litigation and the pursuit of a causation story implicating
cigarette smoke. We will also examine the various stakeholders, both human and corporate citizens in such stories.
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Tricia Palma-Julme
Wednesday
17:00-19:50
13121
Melissa Raymond
Tuesday/Friday
9:05-10:30
11933
Science Health in the News
The human body is amazing! This course introduces students to the fundamentals of scientific inquiry using
the human body and clinical trials as models. Current events and clinical trials exemplify scientific inquiry
techniques and methods. We will review how science and scientific inquiry has changed over time.
William Rodriguez
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
12:15-13:40
13:50-15:15
15781
13116
“How Science Works”
This course will introduce you to the process of scientific inquiry by exploring several topics; thus, the
main goal is to understand how science works. Another goal is to make you better able evaluate information that
may impact your health. We will discuss sources of scientific information and their various levels of credibility.
We will consider why the news often reports contradictory scientific information. We will look at examples of the
scientific process working well as we discover what the stuff around us is made of (that is, the nature of matter).
And, we will look at the total breakdown of the process as we learn about fraud in healthcare (pharmaceutical,
medical device and biotech industries). An emphasis will be placed on the development and utilization of critical
thinking skills.
Miguel Roig
Online
10542
Human Psychology
This course focuses on basic scientific literacy. That is the processes and issues inherent in a scientific
approach to understanding the world. We will then consider how this process of scientific inquiry can be
undermined to create fallacies of science. This process will be primarily illustrated in the area of human behavioral
science with a particular emphasis on science and pseudoscience in psychology.
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Elizabeth Rooney
Monday/Thursday
15:25-16:50
10764
.
Pengfei Song
Online
Online
10951
14248
“Living with Microbes”
What are the 3 pounds of bacteria doing in your body? Will you get sick if you swallow your phlegm?
Why is anthrax favored by bioterrorists? Can you use bacteria and urine to make electricity? If you are interested in
finding answers to these questions, this is your course. We will discuss various bacteria and viruses, and how we
can utilize them to develop new technologies and better human health. Approaches include in-classroom
experiments, group activities, field trips and movies.
Shola Thompson
Monday/Thursday
15:25-16:50
10684
Additional Sci 1000C classes
Tuesday/Friday
Tuesday/Friday
Monday/Thursday
12:15-13:40
15:25-16:50
17:00-18:25
15133
15132
17067
Staten Island Campus
Roberta Hayes
Monday/Thursday
10:40-12:05
11025
Reserved for Learning Communities
Infectious Diseases
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of science and scientific inquiry through the study of
specific topics and issues in modern science. Students can choose to study topics in the fields of atomic theory,
energy, environmental science, geoscience, evolution and quantum mechanics. This section has an Infectious
Disease & Immunology focus and we will study the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease and the Human Immune
System as examples of “Scientific Inquiry
Gregory Falabella
Monday/Thursday
17:00-18:25
11696
Astronomy
This course will give students an introduction to ancient and modern Astronomy. Students will be given
insight into the "Big Picture" of the universe and where we stand in it.
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